Six migrants charged over Delos shipwreck

Port Authority officials on the Greek island of Mykonos said Monday they had arrested six migrants rescued from a sailboat that was found rudderless and leaking water in the Aegean Sea in near gale force winds on Sunday for illegal transportation of third country nationals, causing a shipwreck and forming a criminal organization.

Reports of a sailboat adrift off the uninhabited island of Delos reached the coast guard late Saturday. It dispatched three rescue vessels and a tugboat.

Early Sunday morning, rescuers managed to tow the sailboat to an islet off the nearby island of Mykonos, authorities said. The migrants — 63 men, 24 women and 21 children — were safely transported to Mykonos. They told officers that their boat had sailed from Turkey and was heading to an unknown destination.

None of the migrants on board were wearing a life vest, nor was there any life-saving equipment on board, authorities said.

On Monday afternoon, the coast guard was still searching for eight missing passengers, of which three are said to be minors, according to the rescuees.

The Coast Guard released a video showing the rescue operation.